After a good deal of discussion in the Star Wars Armada forum several members agree that a significant barrier to Star Wars Armada growing is the initial cost of the core (aka starter) set.
Many Armada players come from an X-Wing Miniatures background and the sticker shock on the Armada core set deters these players and others from even considering purchase of the game. Additionally it has been stated that many new players only want to play one faction and do not want to pay for an additional ship they will not use.
What has been proposed is to create two new starter sets, one each for rebels and imperials that has a reduced cost and only comes with the faction's ships and the range rulers and tokens needed to play. I believe this would make the game appealing to a larger audience and would drive sales of existing Armada products by expanding market share. These new starter sets could also be aimed at current players with inclusion of exclusive upgrades(weapons systems, titles, squadrons) which are only sold in the new starter sets.
Please feel free to message me. Armada is my favorite game and I would love to see it grow beyond it's current size.

The question is, how complex do you want to get about tying these games together? I just had a brief convo with a local X-Winger about it and I believe the easiest way to do it is to have the different games give bonuses to the others based on victories; i.e. your special forces X-Wing squadron tears up the repair yards at Corellia, now the opposing Armada guys lack those 5 repair points, your team's armada won the battle over the planet you're assaulting, now you get orbital strikes. If your legion force wants to strike somewhere completely separate from the X-wing and Armada force that's fine, but they won't enjoy the benefit of the added support, as in real conflict combined arms is always superior but limits your scope of operations.
I'd submit this as a campaign where the different games aren't locked to each other( the legion and x-wing guys can strike wherever they want) however there are different risks and rewards for coordinating on a given location or spreading out. The downtime shouldn't be too bad in this type of campaign either provided each game is on a different day and each team plays consistently.

After a good deal of discussion in the Star Wars Armada forum several members agree that a significant barrier to Star Wars Armada growing is the initial cost of the core (aka starter) set.
Many Armada players come from an X-Wing Miniatures background and the sticker shock on the Armada core set deters these players and others from even considering purchase of the game. Additionally it has been stated that many new players only want to play one faction and do not want to pay for an additional ship they will not use.
What has been proposed is to create two new starter sets, one each for rebels and imperials that has a reduced cost and only comes with the faction's ships and the range rulers and tokens needed to play. I believe this would make the game appealing to a larger audience and would drive sales of existing Armada products by expanding market share. These new starter sets could also be aimed at current players with inclusion of exclusive upgrades(weapons systems, titles, squadrons) which are only sold in the new starter sets.
Please feel free to message me. Armada is my favorite game and I would love to see it grow beyond it's current size.

I listened to your first episode and despite the off color commentary and running banter which I didn't enjoy I found it pretty informative and worth wading through.
I didn't even make it through five minutes of this episode. I'm guessing you'll tell me to go <REDACT> myself, but you did say you love to hear feedback, so here it is; If you ease up on the sexual comments and attempted humor I'd probably give it another listen, but at this point I'm out.

I played Saturday at Adepticon and unfortunately got shuffled next to people I had already played(so take the sample size with a grain of salt) however I still saw it in a lot of lists. The 'unactivated ship' ruling didn't drastically change it's usage in my opinion.
I had brought one with a 5 activation list and faced two 3 activation lists with Adviser and a 4 activation list without. It helped out a bit against the 4 list and I saved him against the 3 lists a couple of turns, seems to be a good way to go but still haven't worked out the exact permutations of how that works. The running joke all day was calling him 'the politeness officer' as one player would trigger and the other would pass it right back. "Hello there, Strategic Adviser Jones here, I'll need you to activate a ship"..."Oh hello Adviser Jones, this is Strategic Adviser Smith here. I'm afraid we can't do that at this time, I insist, please activate a ship."
I hope they FAQ it so that the opposing player MUST activate a ship, just as the card is written. This was discussed a bit at Adepticon with no real consensus as to whether or not it would be a good fix.

I had the pleasure of tangling with that monster round one. Hands down one of, if not THE, most frustrating ships I've ever had the headache of battling. I predict we might start seeing a lot more of this much maligned ship in the coming year. I would have been better off engaging his gnarly ISD.

I killed Jack's Interdictor (same build under Thrawn) Saturday when I fired full squadrons and 2 CR90 shots at it for THREE TURNS.  It was MOST WANTED.  The ship WON'T DIE.
WHY WON'T IT DIE??????????????

You missed the Clone Wars Ships Crowd tiles...

Legion's a very different genre of game. It's fundamentally reliant on having multiple unit options - Armada achieves variety with upgrade options, but the style of game Legion is wouldn't jive as well with that.  As an example: every Legion army must have a Commander and 3 Corps. At an absolute minimum, that's over 25% of your list's points - for "launch wave" Empire, it's over 40%. You need to have multiple options for Commanders and Corps to have any list individuality. 
On the contrary, I really appreciate the fact that FFG knows what kind of games X-Wing, Armada, and Legion are, and don't try to force each to be like the others. It means everybody has different favorites (Armada is best, Legion is cool, X-Wing doesn't interest me), because each game has its own individual identity.

This is completely understandable,  but not good design. Players who have purchased several flotillas already should be able to use them.  Just two flotillas at MSRP are in the realm of $40, and some people have bought nearly $100 in relevant products in just one faction.  Better to make that purchase less effective than to outright ban it. 

Saturday Results and Lists (with MoV this time, @GiledPallaeon has pics/numbers from Thursday)
1) Eric Taylor, @Snipafist, 26-658
MW, Con O, Sup Pos
Interdictor Suppression
Sloane, Brunson, Engine Techs, DCaps, Interdictor, Target Scramblers, Grav Shift Reroute, HIE
Quasar 1
Pryce, Flight Controllers, Exp hang, Boosted Comms, Pursuant
Goz
Hondo Comms Net
Ciena, Jendon, Dengar, Howl, Maarek, Mauler, Saber, Valen
2) Nick Litrenta, 25-775
Blockade Run, Con O, Solar Corona
Goz Comms Net
Goz COmms Net
Cymoon
Vader, Relentless, EWS, IF, Hardened Bulk, Tua, H9, Quad Turbo Cannons
Cymoon
Avenger, StM, Strat Ad, SPinal, Xi7, Gun Team, Harden Bulk
3) Nick Griffiths @Capt. Griff, 22-667
same as thursday, though Boba Fett became Bossk
4) Mike Ploetz, 21-362
MW, VIP, Solar Corona
Pelta Assault
Rieekan, Lando, ExRax, IF
MC30 Torp
Admo, SFO, OE, EWS, ACM, H9
GR75 COmms Net
CR90 TRC
CR90 TRC
CR90B HIE
Shara, Tycho
5) Jakob Christensen, 20-657
MW, Con O, Dang Terr
Kuat
Motti, Chimaera, ECM, EF!, LS, Wulff, GT, ExRax
Glad1
Demo, APT, ET, OE
Raider1
ExRax, OE
Goz Comms Net
Goz Comms Net
Howl and 3 TIEs
6) Jaroslaw Skrzypek, 19-507
Station Assault, Con O, Sup Pos
Jainas TRCR90
GR Comms Net
GR BCC
Yavaris Standard build
LMC80 Star
Dodonna, Strat Ad, GT, Leading Shots
X, X, Gold, Jan, B, B
7) John Zuidema @geek19 19-195
MW, Fire Lanes, Sensor Net
TRCR90A
TRCR90A
CR90A
Jainas, Leia, TRCs
GR
GR
GR
Bright Hope, Toryn, BCC
Wedge, Jan, 3 VCX, 5 Ys
8) Matt Ansley @GiledPallaeon18-179
AG, PIC, Salvage Run
MC80 Assault
Ackbar, Strat Ad, ET, EWS, ECM, LS, QBT, Home One
MC75 Armored
Bail, Boarding Troopers, ECM, ExRax, Leading Shots, Xi7
GR
Leia, Comms Net, Bright Hope
Shara/Tycho
9) Mike Bohlmann @comatose, 15-190
AG, Hyp Assault, Sup Pos
MC75 Armored
Bail, Fire Control Team, ECM, ACM, LS, XX9, Aspiration
MC30 Scout
Sato, Lando, OE, ACM, Admo
GR75 Comms Net
Gr75 Comms Net
Hera, Luke, Biggs, 2 Lancers
10) Andrew Maas @SpaceC0wboy 15-14
Most Wanted, Con O, Solar
MC75 Ordnance
Strat Ad, OE, Quad Lasers, ECM, APT, Ord Pods
CR90B Dodonnas Pride
Pelta Assault
Dodonna, Projection Ex, IF!
CR90A Jainas TRC
GR75
Toryn Comms Net
3 YT2400s
11) Jack Otto 14-133
MW, Con O, Solar Corona
Arq Command
SFO, ET, QBT
Interdictor Suppression
Brunson, ET, DCaps, Targeting Scrambler, Grav Shift Reroute, HIE, Interdictor
Kuat
Thrawn, Strat Ad, Darth Vader, ECM, Leading Shots, ExRax, Chimaera, Entrapment Formation!
Goz Hondpo COmms Net
12) Ben Lurie 14-111
MW, Fire Lanes, Intel Sweep
MC30 Torp
Raddus, Lando, OE, ExRax, Admo
MC80 Command
LS, Defiance, QBT
Yavaris Standard Build
GR75 Comms Net
2 VCX, B, Dagger, X, Hwk
13) Victor Walker 12-400
Opening Salvo, Hyperspace Assault, Minefields
MC80 Command
Ackbar, LS, Exp hang Bay, AP
CR90
Slaved Turrets Jainas Light
CR90 Projecton Exp Leia Organa
2 E, 2 Z95, Hera, Dutch, 4 A-wings
14) Chris Eggert @Eggzavier 12-17
MW, Hyp Assault, Sup Pos
MC75 Armored
Dodonna, Strat Ad, Flight Controllers, ECM
GR75
Adar, BCC
Yavaris Standard
GR
Bright Hope Toryn
Ten, Corran, Jan, Luke, Dagger, X, 2 Y
15) Matt Harbage 8-0
Precision Strike, Fighter Ambush, Sup Pos
ISD-II
Thrawn, GT, Boosted Comms, ECM, QBTs, Leading Shots
Quasar II
Squall, Brunson, Flight Controllers, ruthless, boosted
Goz BCC
Defender, Tempest, 4 bombers, maarek, jendon
16) Chris Putrich 4-0
OPening Salvo, Fleet Ambush, Intel Sweep
ISD-II
Screed, Avenger, GT
VSD-II Overload Pulse Gunnery Team
VSD-II Overload Pulse Gunnery Team
4 TIEs

I played Saturday at Adepticon and unfortunately got shuffled next to people I had already played(so take the sample size with a grain of salt) however I still saw it in a lot of lists. The 'unactivated ship' ruling didn't drastically change it's usage in my opinion.
I had brought one with a 5 activation list and faced two 3 activation lists with Adviser and a 4 activation list without. It helped out a bit against the 4 list and I saved him against the 3 lists a couple of turns, seems to be a good way to go but still haven't worked out the exact permutations of how that works. The running joke all day was calling him 'the politeness officer' as one player would trigger and the other would pass it right back. "Hello there, Strategic Adviser Jones here, I'll need you to activate a ship"..."Oh hello Adviser Jones, this is Strategic Adviser Smith here. I'm afraid we can't do that at this time, I insist, please activate a ship."
I hope they FAQ it so that the opposing player MUST activate a ship, just as the card is written. This was discussed a bit at Adepticon with no real consensus as to whether or not it would be a good fix.

It was great to get out and meet everyone, despite going 0-3 I had a really good time and will likely come out again next year.
Also way to make the Interdictor great again, hands down the most awful thing I faced all day! Not sure if Jack is on here and what his tag is but it was a good match and I hope to see you again some time in the future if not for Armada then for our shared passion for A Feast for Odin.
Shout out to @comat0se for a crazy exact tie game. I may have to find my way down to Champaign just to try my luck against you once more!

I played Saturday at Adepticon and unfortunately got shuffled next to people I had already played(so take the sample size with a grain of salt) however I still saw it in a lot of lists. The 'unactivated ship' ruling didn't drastically change it's usage in my opinion.
I had brought one with a 5 activation list and faced two 3 activation lists with Adviser and a 4 activation list without. It helped out a bit against the 4 list and I saved him against the 3 lists a couple of turns, seems to be a good way to go but still haven't worked out the exact permutations of how that works. The running joke all day was calling him 'the politeness officer' as one player would trigger and the other would pass it right back. "Hello there, Strategic Adviser Jones here, I'll need you to activate a ship"..."Oh hello Adviser Jones, this is Strategic Adviser Smith here. I'm afraid we can't do that at this time, I insist, please activate a ship."
I hope they FAQ it so that the opposing player MUST activate a ship, just as the card is written. This was discussed a bit at Adepticon with no real consensus as to whether or not it would be a good fix.

I regret not going now.   Had the offer to go and help run Legion events but couldn't make the time.  
These cons are great for finally meeting up with forums people!  

Re: Interdictor
Oh yeah, I'm loving it. In the current meta, a ship that survives based on dice shenanigans and doesn't rely on defense tokens too much is pretty good in a world of Avenger ISDs and token-overheating upgrades and accuracy generation tech. You need a plan for getting damage out of the rest of your fleet, but the Interdictor can do fine when double-arcing and evaporates shields with HIEs. Mine took FIVE Vader Cymoon front arc shots to finally bring down in the final round yesterday and otherwise I only lost it in my game against @Capt. Griff on Thursday and once besides that in casual games when the Vader boarding team stole its Targeting Scrambler.

Re: Games Plus
The issue I have with Games Plus is it's about an hour drive from me and its play area is rather random. I like the store itself, it's just a bit difficult to really get there and get a game going sometimes. They do occasional Saturday Armada, right? I could've sworn I saw something on the Armada Chicago Facebook group about it.
Re: Fair Game
Feel free to drop us a line on the Fair Game Armada Facebook group if you're interested in coming out some Thursday and join up if you haven't already for when we post Saturday events (which should be easier to get to for you vs. Thursday)! It's a clean well-lit store, the only issue we have is space. We can get about a dozen people playing Armada at once, but past that it can get problematic. It's the only reason we didn't apply for Regionals this most recent season, we just don't have the space. Next time around, the plan is to partner up with Pastimes to get it done.

One thing I want to note that will be clear when the fleet lists go up is Adepticon was won on Thursday (by @Capt. Griff) with a 2-activation fleet and on Saturday with a 3-activation fleet. That's activations, not ships, so not a Strategic Adviser (Politeness Officer!) in sight to pad that. My fleet had Pryce and that was about it so far as activation shenanigans went.

Kudos on that build. It was AWFUL to fight. It was perhaps the only time it would have been better to fight the ISD instead!
You've got the right guy @Snipafist, I live in a suburb far far away on the 'outer rim' of Chicagoland. The best place for folk in my area to link up with you city folk(Corucago? Chicagoscant?) is likely Games Plus, however that might be an awful trek for y'all as well. For me it's about an hour's drive.
I'll get out to Fair Game one of these days. From all the pics I've seen it looks like a very tidy and well put together store. It's always a pleasure to see a game store that's not your typical cramped 'nerd dungeon'.

Re: Wave 8
Our source confirmed that there is a wave 8 and that we would be hearing about it at some unspecified time in the future. 
That's the best we could do on that one, we're not bothans after all and I wanted to survive adepticon 

It was great to get out and meet everyone, despite going 0-3 I had a really good time and will likely come out again next year.
Also way to make the Interdictor great again, hands down the most awful thing I faced all day! Not sure if Jack is on here and what his tag is but it was a good match and I hope to see you again some time in the future if not for Armada then for our shared passion for A Feast for Odin.
Shout out to @comat0se for a crazy exact tie game. I may have to find my way down to Champaign just to try my luck against you once more!

Because Peter Cushing was a gentleman and didn't approve of bad language before destroying a planet.
You should have seen the size of the swear box on the Death Star. 

I can back up the scuttlebutt about there being a FAQ drop and some potentially major changes before worlds, heard from a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, of course.

The lead developer came around to see some game. He said we would Ben getting an FAQ very soon. I didn’t think to ask if that meant before Worlds, so be prepared for the flotilla-tabling change if you’re going. He also said that Armada is still his favorite game (even though he was just lead developer on Star Wars Legion), so I’m hopeful we’ve got at least a couple more waves if not another core set. 

We also had @SpaceC0wboy and @Capt. Griff out there too! Lots of forum personalities all in one place was pretty fun!

I still wish I could watch a recording of Mike (one of our locals) and @Capt. Griff's game - they're both the most aggressive Armada players I've played and they hit each other round 2 on Saturday. Mike was about 3-4 beers in because the beer cart came with tiger tank sprues from Flames of War and the occasional conversation snippet I overheard sounded hilarious and there were ships just stuck in there everywhere on round 2. They weren't messing around!

Thank You/Bump Post
This looks great! I am slowly working to establish an Armada presence in my area and I think this will be a GREAT way to bring new players into the game and avoid the freak out factor of needing 400pts and 2+ hours just to start.
I'll try to run this soon and will report the results.

Welcome to the Taskforce format for Armada! 
This is a half-size, skirmish style reduction of a normal Armada game. Imagine the deployment of a small task force of ships, under one direct commanding officer. 
Pros:  No additional rules beyond half sizing, tournament results suggest it is very balanced and diverse, games are done in less time 45min-1hour. Smaller size 3x3.
Uses: Great for learning how to play!  Great for limited time or limited space.  Great for custom campaigns of small games interspersed with other point values.  
What is this format? 
NO ADDITIONAL RULES REQUIRED except keep the larger half: 
200points
(3x3 board, 6 turns), station + 2 asteroids + 1 debris field. 
Commander required, objectives required as normal, 1/3 squadron point limit as normal.
Deployment Zone is Distance 3 from your edge, and No-Deploy zone is distance 3 from the non-player, side edges.  
The benefits of this format:
This format is much faster, six rounds taking about 45m average, with 1 hour as time limit.  (Set up though, takes about 2/3s normal time.)  You can easily finish two games, set up, and tear down within 3 hours.  
It also takes a lot less space.  3x3
Its much more manageable for people who are new, have smaller collections or have a hard time remembering every upgrade or facet.  But you still have to learn to build very well, taking into account your expensive admiral.
You also end up learning the objectives this way, as objectives are still required.  
The format is meant to be universally acceptable. Minimum/no house rules required. No extra information required except for objectives rebalanced down to larger half. 
Additional support for the Taskforce Format:
You can play any style you want, balance is still maintained.  We've determined now that any style is still viable.  3 ship Demolisher, Ackbar, Yavaris mass squadron, 3 CRs, 1 ISD or MC80.   (Wave 2 tournament results)
On page 3, we have an entire tournament of results from @florianhess  So much thanks! 
From playtesting and the tournament done of this format, it seems to be well balanced for any style of play and it plays similarly to a full game.  
PDF Guide created by @TheBigLev, page 5: Task Force Format v2.1 Final ! Its very neat and easy to read, for new players. 
Objectives rebalancing, courtesy of @FrightfulCommand, posting on page 4.